Everything Kelsea Ballerini and Morgan Evans Have Said About Their Divorce: It’s an ‘Active Healing Journey’

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Everything Kelsea Ballerini and Morgan Evans Have Said About Their Divorce: It's an 'Active Healing Journey'

While fans of Kelsea Ballerini and Morgan Evans may have been caught off guard by their split, the country singers had seen the writing on the wall.

“I think when there’s a big life decision like that, it’s not a sudden one,” the Tennessee native told CBS Mornings in October 2022 of what led to her divorce. “And there’s a lot that happens before that becomes public. So, I’m on my, like, active healing journey.”

Ballerini added: “It’s not, like, volatile [between us], it just didn’t work and that sometimes is, like, a difficult narrative to get your head around when you’re like, ‘Oh, my gosh. This is a good person. And I’m a good person. And this is just no longer good anymore.’”

The Grammy Award nominee and the Australia native — who wed in December 2017 — announced their decision to separate in August 2022.

“Friends, I’ve always tried my best to share my life with you in a real and vulnerable way, while also protecting layers of my personal life as they unfold,” Ballerini wrote via her Instagram Story at the time. “This is now public record so I wanted you to hear from me directly that I am going through a divorce. … This deeply difficult decision is the result of a journey of love, growth, and effort that ultimately has come to an end.”

The “Peter Pan” songstress officially filed for divorce hours before posting her social media statement, but a source exclusively told Us Weekly that the twosome’s connection had been on the rocks for years.

“They’ve been working on their marriage for many years and have even tried therapy,” the insider revealed at the time, noting that the pair had even “privately separated” briefly before calling it quits for good. “They ultimately decided that they had no choice but to officially separate.”

Us confirmed in November 2022 that Ballerini and Evans had reached a divorce settlement, shortly after the now-exes each released breakup songs about their experience.

“It’s been a rough few months in my life,” the “Day Drunk” crooner told Access Hollywood at the 2022 CMAs of the inspiration for his “Over for You” single. “Writing this song just really helped me sort through a lot of that.”

He noted: “One of the hardest parts [of going through a divorce] is how lonely it feels. It’s strangely comforting to realize that so many other people have been through it, which I didn’t.”

Scroll below for Ballerini and Evans’ most candid quotes — and song lyrics — about their breakup:

Credit: Courtesy Kelsea Ballerini/Instagram

August 2022

Shortly before filing for divorce, Ballerini announced via Instagram Story that the duo had officially separated. “We are both fragile, actively healing, and showing up the best we can,” she wrote of their new normals.

Credit: Courtesy Morgan Evans/Instagram

August 2022

“I am very sad to confirm that after almost 5 years of marriage, Kelsea and I are parting ways. I wish it were otherwise but sadly it is not,” Evans wrote via his Instagram Story, confirming the pair’s split.

Credit: Andrew H. Walker/Shutterstock

September 2022

As the pair navigated their divorce, Ballerini shared several cryptic social media messages. “Right where I’m at with what I have,” she wrote in one via Instagram, hinting at her new chapter. (The phrase appears in her song “What I Have” from her album Subject to Change.)

Credit: Hahn Lionel/ABACA/Shutterstock

September 2022

The “Half of My Hometown” performer released Subject to Change, her fourth record in September — and it featured several songs that alluded to the demise of her marriage. 

“2020 was a weird year / Album dropped at a weird time / Ain't the homecoming queen, but better believe I cried / And therapy for one turned / Into therapy for two,” she sings in “Doin My Best,” adding, “When you get married that young, you got a lotta s—t you gotta get through.”

Credit: Photo by Ed Rode/imageSPACE/Shutterstock

September 2022

Evans also released a breakup ballad, which he performed during an emotional gig in Australia. He crooned: “How long have you been waiting to take our pictures down / How long have you been breaking, why am I just finding out? / How many times did you tell me you loved me if it wasn’t true / I’m just wondering, how long has it been over for you?”

Credit: Rick Diamond/Shutterstock

September 2022

While some of Ballerini’s lyrics were seemingly written about the pair’s split, a few still alluded to being a happy couple. During her Radio City Music Hall gig in New York City, attendees noticed that she switched up some lyrics in “What I Have” to reflect not having anyone to share her bed with.

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October 2022

“It’s easy to, like, shame yourself, and it’s easy to want to hide. I just want to be proud of myself in ten years on this season of my life,” Ballerini told CBS Mornings of her divorce, noting that her relationship with Evans wasn’t “chaotic” but instead just fizzled out. “This is not just a heavy time in my life. This is also a celebratory time in my life. I don’t want to shade that, ’cause that’s important to feel.”

Credit: Evan Agostini/Invision/AP/Shutterstock

November 2022

While attending the 56th annual CMAs in Nashville, Evans admitted to Access that he’s been “extremely lonely” since the split.

Ballerini also attended the awards ceremony, but an eyewitness told Us that the duo kept their distance.

Credit: Andrew H. Walker/Shutterstock

December 2022

"For a while, it was kind of like, 'OK, this is just a new phase of a relationship,' because relationships go through seasons, right? And it's not always going to be butterflies and rainbows. For a long time, I was like, 'Oh this is just … the glitter wears off. That's what happens,’” Ballerini recalled on the “Tell Me About It with Jade Iovine” podcast in December 2022. “And then you get into a phase where you wait for it to come back. And then sometimes it doesn't."

The “Subject to Change” singer added that “divorce is a bitch,” but noted she is "really intuitive and in tune" with herself and knew it was time to end the relationship.

"At the end of the day, it is such a disservice and a dishonoring of yourself if you know something is not right and you stay” she said, adding that she “refuses” to feel “shame” about her decision. “Judge me for it, fine, that's on you."

Credit: Courtesy of Kelsea Ballerini/Instagram

December 2022

“Hi. Sending you a hug,” Ballerini wrote via Instagram a few weeks after what would have been the pair’s five-year wedding anniversary. “Holidays can be both a beautiful time and also bring up some big, hard feelings. Don’t forget it’s OK to feel it all. Protect those precious hearts bbs and Merry Christmas week.”

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February 2023

“The only thing you can control is you and how you feel and what you’re doing,” Evans said on The Bobby Bones Show about what he learned from his divorce. “Thankfully, I have good people around to keep reminding me of that and keep me grounded in that way and I’ll always be grateful for that.”

He added: "After sharing it, seeing how that level of vulnerability and personal writing is actually the thing that most widely relates to people. And the amount of messages and comments I get on social media now, they're so great."

Credit: Matt Baron/BEI/Shutterstock

February 2023

Ballerini opened up about writing her album Subject to Change while attending the 2023 Grammys — and hinted that a lot of inspiration stemmed from her split from Evans.

“I kinda wrote the record from, like, 26 to 28 and you hear a lot of that kind of questioning myself and looking introspectively and looking at my relationships and my relationship at the time," she told E! News while on the red carpet. "And [me] really kind of grappling with all that and having a lot of growing pains. I would call it a processing album for sure and I’m really proud of that.”

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February 2023

Ballerini dropped a six-song EP that served as an answer to Evans’ “Over For You.”

“And now you’re saying that you’re lost / And that’s lost on me,” she sings in one track. “Years of sitting across from me in therapy / I know the truth is hard to hear, but it wasn’t hard to find / Baby, were you blindsided or were you just blind?”

At the end of “Blindsided,” Ballerini seemingly yells through tears: “It’s not f—king news to you, babe. You’ve been in this relationship, it’s not news to you.”

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February 2023

“It’s really sad for me to see this person, who I spent so much of my life with, and loved with all my heart, saying things that aren’t reality and that leave out what really happened,” Evans wrote via Instagram after a teaser for Ballerini’s “Call Her Daddy” podcast appearance dropped. “She knows I’m not the type of guy to speak on those things publicly. If this is what she needs to heal, I hope it helps.” 

Credit: Matt Baron/Shutterstock

February 2023

Ballerini sat down with Alex Cooper for an episode of her “Call Her Daddy” podcast, where she opened up about the demise of her marriage and her divorce EP.

“I don't know if I want kids at all or not, but that was something we had talked about early on and that was something that I was changing on, you know, because he was ready,” the “Heartfirst” artist said on the podcast. “He was like, 'I don't want to be an old dad,' is what he kept saying. And I was like, 'I'm just not there yet.’”

She added: “I took [Morgan] out to dinner and I was like, 'For my 30th birthday, I want to freeze my eggs,' and it was not a good day. I think that was when I was like, 'There's a fundamental difference here that has happened and that has shifted’ and ... it was like, 'He wants something out of life and I'm not there.’”

Ballerini also revealed that the pair had not spoken since settling their divorce. “I was just really honest. I was like, ‘I’ve loved what this has brought in my life and I respect you and I respect me and because of that, I can no longer be in this marriage,'” she said. “We cried, we hugged. It was sweet. And then something changed and I haven’t talked to him since.”

Credit: Andrew H. Walker/Shutterstock; Gregory Pace/Shutterstock

February 2023

Evans got real about his feelings post-split when releasing his five-part docuseries, Over for You, on the last day of February.

“It’s starting to feel more … like my story now and not something that I’m watching happening," the country crooner commented about how writing and releasing his breakup track "Over for You" helped him feel more in control amid their split.

He also joked about their divorce while touring in Australia and New Zealand in the fall of 2022. “I can’t believe it’s almost over. Isn’t that the way life goes? Crazy isn’t it? You look forward to it for f—king so long and get all hyped up and have … fun doing it … and some of the days feel long,” Evans reflected on the tour, before adding with a laugh, “And then before you know it, you’re divorced.”